Page 10 - Moravian Messenger Nov 2020

Fairfield
This time of lockdown and furlough has been a strange one for many of us. On the positive side it has given people time to reflect and for busy people some free time they would not normally have had. Thus, over the Spring and Summer months Gods Acre has seen something of a makeover to use modern parlance. Ena and Bob Gentle and Julie and Andy Rutter have put in a tremendous amount of work and uncovered all the gravestones and generally cleared and tidied to bring it to its tranquil best. You can see from the picture just how
beautiful it looks with
the dappled sunshine
filtering through the
trees. Some of the
stones give interesting
snippets; some so
young to serve as a
poignant reminder of
infant mortality in the
18th and 19th centuries and links to a cholera outbreak, one stone with the age shown as 581/2 years (nowadays you only see full years) and one sister born in 1796 lived to the ripe old age of 91, that has to completely exceed all predicted expectations of lifespan for that generation.
There are also newly turned and planted wildflower beds.
Bedford Queens Park
Sr Anne and Br Mel Wood have prepared the beds and have now sown seeds; as the graveyard is sheltered by large trees all species have been chosen with that in mind, but they have also planted a different species in each of the six beds so that they can monitor which grow best. This
project will of course take time so at present it's a watch and wait exercise, but in the meantime the birds have left the seeds alone. The tree roots have meant the beds are unusual shapes; one of them looks like the fish symbol used by Christians worldwide; a portent I hope of good things to come.
Harold Road London
We would like to welcome our new Minister Sr Christine Emanuel to Harold Road.
Because of the virus, things are far from normal at the moment, but we have been uplifted by Sr Christine's 'virtual' services, and we look forward to the time when we can all share face to face fellowship.
We may be few in number, but we will do our very best to make Sr Christine's time with us rewarding and enjoyable and we will make a real effort to follow her guiding principles of 'Worship; Witness; Welcome'.
Sr Margery Sutcliffe
We were able to complete work on the hall roof before lockdown and also do some work on the plaster over our organ. We had additional work done on repairing the crack on the cross at the front of the church which was then painted. As it looks spectacular we have now decided to do all the church top to bottom, replastering where necessary and estimates are being sought to remove cracks. We had all our
Baildon
The Baildon Moravian Church WhatsApp Group have produced these postcards taken of their gate which, with help from members and friends, they covered with rainbow flowers to thank the NHS at this time of national crisis. There are four different cards in packs of eight selling at £3.50 or 50p for a single card. Proceeds to go to local charities. Orders to Sr Vanessa Sykes by telephone: 01274 962730; or send text messages to 07934 581440.
electrics PAT tested in readiness for the Chief Fire Officer of Bedfordshire to come and visit us. He suggested several things we need to implement now. Someone will come and demonstrate how to use the fire equipment. Due to the low numbers using our premises he felt we are low risk. We are reopening our church on 13th September with all safety precautions in place.
Br Eric Moore
Sr Libby Mitchell
Br Michael O'Sullivan
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© Sr Caroline Mitchell
© Br Edwin Quildan © Sr Anne Wood
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